


Black Spider

by Fandomsaremyonlyhobby



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: 1920s, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - After College/University, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Historical, F/M, Letters, Love Letters, daddy long legs based
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:41:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22127329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandomsaremyonlyhobby/pseuds/Fandomsaremyonlyhobby
Summary: Living at the Jakku Asylum for Orphaned children is not living as far as Rey is concerned, and when the mysterious and eccentric Mr Kylo Ren, who requires nothing but a monthly letter of her, decides to put her through college, her world changes. She suddenly has opportunities she never dreamed of, and when she meets Ben Solo, charming uncle of her roommate Phasma, and the first 'Real Man' she's ever encountered, her world changes again. Writing to Kylo Ren begins to feel like her only familial connection, but can she hold onto the dream of a family when Ben can offer her a real one?
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. A Not so Perfectly Awful Wednesday

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!  
> This is my first ever FanFiction, and I'm so excited to be a part of the writing side of this community I've been enjoying as a reader for many years. Any feedback is appreciated, especially constructive criticism, but this is my first go so please be considerate. This story is based on the Jean Webster novel 'Daddy Long Legs' which I was reading the other day and thought fit perfectly with these characters, particularly with a Reylo Story line. More to come soon, enjoy!

Rey hated Wednesdays. On Wednesday's the matron of Jakku Group Home had her day off and Rey, the oldest orphan living there, was expected to carry out her duties in her absence.  
This was trial enough, Rey thought to herself as she darned a hole in the stocking of one of her young charges, but the first Wednesday of every month was no regular Wednesday. On the first Wednesday of every month the trustees who were responsible for the home (and much of its limited finances) made their regular visit to make sure the little orphans were behaving in gratefulness accordant with the efforts of the trustees to improve their pitiful lives. Every floor must be spotless, every one of the ninety-seven orphans squashed into their best clothes, and Rey hadn’t yet made those yummy finger sandwiches that the lady visitors expected on their visit.  
Needless to say, it was a distressing time, and Rey had been responsible for the presentation of orphans and orphanage alike for the last seven years of her seventeen years there. At five o’clock exactly she tucked a stray curl into Susie Hawkins braid and blew out her lips as she ushered them down the stairs to be presented for inspection. She lay back on her bed with a sigh of sheer exhaustion and closed her eyes just as she heard footsteps entering the room. Perceiving them to belong to her best and only friend at the Jakku Home, Finn, she decided it was not worth opening her eyes.  
“So did we utterly disgrace ourselves this month?”  
Finn grinned,”Unless you count Tommy Dillon tripping over Mrs Plutt’s dress on the way to the dining room a disgrace, then no.”  
Rey groaned and turned over on the bed until her face was pressed into the duvet. When she did not receive an answer she lifted herself onto her elbows and looked questioningly at Finn.  
“So? How mad was she?”  
“Well..”Finn sat beside her on the bed,”More cross than the time I broke a window playing cricket with the boys, but less cross than the time she found a rat in the pudding on Trustee Day. And...”  
“And?”prompted Rey.  
“And she wants to see you in her office. Now, actually.”  
Rey shot off of the bed, hopping to the mirror to fix her hair as she tried to shove her feet into her boots at the same time, which resulted inevitably in her crashing to the floor. She rubbed her wounded arm as she recited the list of things that could’ve gone wrong in her head. Was there eggshell in the sandwiches? Had someone seen the corner in the sitting room that Rey couldn’t quite reach with the broom, no matter how hard she tried? Did Tommy Dillon find a way to blame his trip up on her? She wouldn’t put it past him that conniving little-  
“Rey, don’t worry, I’m sure its nothing bad.” Finn soothed, placing his warm hand atop her small one. “Even Mrs Plutt knows deep down that you’re the best charge this place has. I mean, I’d be lost if we hadn’t become friends.”  
Rey now felt uncomfortable for a different reason. She knew that Finn wanted more than friendship with her, but try as she might she couldn’t see him the way he wanted her to. He was her first friend, and the closest thing she had to a brother.  
“Thanks Finn,” she smiled, withdrawing her hand and standing up,”I’d better go and see what she wants.”  
As Rey trundled down the stairs she leaned over the rail so she could see the shiny trustee cars as they pulled away from the somewhat sinister looking gate that framed the Home. She imagined them driving away to their homes, where they’d be greeted by their family, a roaring fire in the hearth and dinner warming on the stove, a dog lying at their feet as they related the pitiful details of life at Jakku. It took a great deal of effort for her to picture this, as Rey had never actually been inside a house like this, or indeed inside any home that wasn’t a Home, so she had to rely almost entirely upon her imagination. An imagination that was always getting her into trouble, at least so Mrs Plutt was always saying. She was always scolding Rey for ‘running away with the fairies’. According to Mrs Plutt, she should face reality and be grateful for it. As she continued her descent down the stairs, a man leaving the building caught her eye at the end of the hallway. Turning her head to look, she caught sight only of his shadow against the whitewashed walls, elongated to a height that no human could aspire to. A naturally sunny soul- Rey by name and Ray by nature as Finn said- Rey couldn’t help but laugh at the absurd picture the shadow presented, despite the gloomy uncertainty of her impending meeting with Mrs Plutt. It looked exactly like a daddy long legs spider, all black and drawn out against the stark white background. She smiled as she advanced to the office, somewhat less apprehensive than before, and sat down at the nasty hard-backed chair that she suspected had put there to deliberately increase the discomfort of the unfortunate who sat there.  
“I have something to say to you Rey. Did you see the gentleman who has just left?”  
“I saw his back.”  
“That gentleman is one of our most important Trustees, who has been a faithful financial supporter of the Jakku Home for a number of years. I am not at liberty to disclose his name; he wishes to remain anonymous, but he has supported several of our more gifted students through college in the past, who have endeavoured to repay his generosity with hard work and success in their chosen field. He has never before shown the least interest in any of the girls here, he believes them to be flighty and a waste of an education.”  
“Right”, Rey said, as a reply was clearly expected at this point by Mrs Plutt.  
“We were discussing your future today at the meeting, as you have already been supported through the village high school against my recommendation, which you completed at the end of the last term. You cannot continue to drain the resources of the Home without earning your keep, and it was my suggestion that you should go out into the workforce and start learning your place in this world, but Miss Kanata has been very vocal about your supposed skill as an author, and recommended that you receive higher education in this field.”  
Mrs Plutt overlooked that Rey had worked hard for her keep during her time attending the high school and the fact that her schooling was very clearly secondary to the asylum, but she kept her mouth shut.  
“Now despite your- I hesitate to use the word talent- in writing, your behaviour has frequently been less than would be expected of you. All of this was thoroughly discussed at the meeting today, and Miss Kanata read one of your essays entitled ‘Scavenger’ to the trustees.  
Rey began to look rather guilty.  
“And it seems you have little care for the life and education you have received here, and had you not expressed your ingratitude in what several of the trustees deemed an ‘amusing manner’ I expect you would be packing your bag tonight. However, it seems you have luck on your side, as the gentleman I mentioned earlier- the gentleman who has just left that is- appears to have a sense of humour, and has decided to send you to college.  
“Me? Go to college?” Rey’s eyes widened in undisguised delight.  
Mrs Plutt grunted in response.  
“He laid out the terms with me before he left. A bit of an odd gentleman, but not ungenerous. So determined to be anonymous he usually covers his face when he visits. And in accordance, his terms are also rather unusual, but I trust you will be able to follow them without much difficulty given the expense that is being incurred on your behalf. He is planning to educate you to become a writer. Whether or not you will succeed in this endeavour remains to be seen. He has been generous with the allowance you will receive; far too generous in my opinion.  
However, it is his wish, so you will do your best to present yourself well with the money given to you. Your board and tuition will be paid to the college, and you will receive thirty-five dollars a month during your time there. He believes this will ensure more of an equality between you and your peers. His secretary, a Mr Armitage Hux, will send this to you, and you will write a monthly letter to express your gratitude. He does not want your thanks in these letters, however, he merely wishes you to write about your progress and experiences, and believes it will improve your writing skills. They will be addressed to a Mr Kylo Ren; this is the gentlemans pen name, as he wishes to remain anonymous. To you he will be nothing but Kylo Ren. He will not answer your letters, so you must not expect that, he takes not the slightest interest in reading letters, particularly, he assures me, from young girls, and detests writing them more still. These letters are the only payment he requires, so you must be as punctual at sending them as you would be a bill, and treat them and Mr Kylo Ren with the utmost respect which I would hope your upbringing has instilled in you.”  
Rey was at a loss for words. She longed to be alone to think over her rapidly changing future, and waited impatiently to be dismissed by Mrs Plutt, who indicated for her to leave.  
As she turned the doorknob Mrs Plutt spoke again.  
“I hope you are not insensible of your great fortune, Rey. I personally believe it has been wasted on you, but you must prove otherwise if you do not wish to bring shame to the Jakku Home.”  
Rey nodded and left the room, her mind a hive of thoughts about a future she had not dreamed of a mere two minutes ago.  
Her, attend college? And that strange gentleman to pay for it? It was all too fantastical for words, Rey thought as she floated up the stairs, her legs not feeling the strain they usually did after Trustee Day as her dreams carried her upstairs and into bed.


	2. Daddy Long Legs

215 Fergussen Hall  
September 24th  
Dear Mr Kylo Ren/Kind-Trustee-Who-Sends-Orphans-to-College,  
I would like to begin this letter by thanking you for your extremely kind undertaking of educating such an undeserving and saucy orphan as I am to be a writer (!) of all things, but since I have been expressedly forbidden from doing this, I will begin this letter by NOT thanking you. I am here, at Ahch-To College for Young Ladies; I arrived yesterday on the train. I had never been on a train before, so you see my education began before I even arrived! They brought this little trolley along the middle of the train and sold sandwiches and cakes and boiled sweets, and I bought a ham and tomato sandwich with the allowance your secretary advanced to me (which I am expressedly not thanking you for). 

Everything at College has been perfectly lovely so far. My room is up in the old tower, part of the original residential building, which I think is so much more romantic than the grey unfriendly looking new building where most of the Freshmen sleep. There are five girls on my floor not including myself; three seniors who like to pretend us ‘freshers’ don’t exist, and two Freshmen girls named Rose Tico and Phasma Solo. Rose is very friendly; Phasma is from one of the first families in New York and as far as she is concerned, Rose and I don’t exist. They have a large room together and I have a little corner room all to myself. I suspect the registrar didn’t think it quite right to have a properly brought up young lady rooming with an orphan. After sharing a dormitory with 11 other girls for the whole of my life I am quite excited to find out what it feels like to be alone, and to acquaint myself with Rey Kenobi for the first time. I think that I will like her. Do you?

Tuesday  
The try outs for Freshman basketball were this morning; and I don’t suppose you guess who has made it onto the team? I may not be as strong as some of the others, but I am fast and small so I can duck under the taller girls. I’ve never played a sport before, not truly, as the version of cricket we played at the asylum could hardly be called a sport. I feel a sense of camaraderie with my team mates, and it feels wonderful to be a part of something for the first time in my life. We practice outside in the afternoon and it’s loads of fun; the autumn leaves falling around us look so pretty, and at the end of practice there is almost always a leaf fight between the girls. Phasma is too refined to participate in this so she sits on the bench reading, but yesterday I caught her watching us over the top of her book. The girls here are so jolly, which makes such a difference from the asylum, for no one can expect a group of orphans together to be jolly. Happy sometimes, but never jolly. I’d worried when I got here that lots of the girls would already know each other and not want to make new friends, but there are girls here from three different states and everyone is as new as me!

Oh dear! Mrs Plutt said I was to list all the many things I’ve been learning in my letters but the ten o’clock bell has just rung and the lights must be off in five minutes. Next time I promise faithfully I will recount every Latin verb I have learned for your satisfaction.  
Yours always,  
Rey Kenobi

P.S.  
All the girls on my floor are complaining of feeling Homesick this week, which is one thing I have managed to avoid! Whoever heard of someone feeling asylum sick?

October 10th

Dear Mr Kylo Ren,  
How formal and stiff that sounds! I have been thinking about you a lot over the past couple of weeks, and how wonderful it is to have someone to think about! I feel as though I have been given a family, or a guardian angel. You are at once a sister and an uncle and a grandmother to me, and I am sorry to tell you (because I am afraid that you will be cross), but I cannot continue to call you Kylo Ren. It is not your real name and you are the closest thing I have to a family, and addressing my family with such unfamiliarity would break my heart. I may as well call you Mr-Clothes-Pole or Mr-Bedside-Table for all the kinship your name lends. So I have endeavoured to find you a new name that I hope will be acceptable to both of us. Since I know so little about you this may prove to be a challenge but I am willing to try my best. 

Here are the three things I know about you; you’re tall, you’re rich, and you hate girls. Calling you Mr Girl-hater is rather insulting to me, being a girl. I could call you Mr Rich-Man, but that’s rather insulting to you, and you might not always be rich, so that won’t do either. So I’ve decided to call you Dear Daddy-Long-Legs. I hope you won’t be offended, it is just a pet name between you and I. Our secret. I’ve never had someone to share a secret with before, so you will keep this one, won’t you?

Thursday  
It is so very nice to have money to oneself, don’t you think Daddy? To buy things, but especially new things. I hope you don’t think me ungrateful, but when everything you own has first belonged to someone else it is thrilling to know that something is just mine. So far I have bought myself five new dresses; two serviceable ginghams for everyday, a fancy sunday frock and a slightly less fancy dress as my second-best, and my favourite of all which is an evening gown. Me, Rey, wearing an evening gown! There is a dinner in two weeks when the chancellor of a sister university comes to visit so I will soon have a chance to wear it. The one I really, desperately wanted was a gorgeous pink taffeta, but a lifetime of sensible upbringing is not overcome in one week, and I bought the deep red muslin, which will hide any stains I am liable to make. This wardrobe might not seem awfully big to a Phasma Solo, but to Rey Kenobi- Oh my!

Rose Tico and I have become firm friends, and she can do all sorts of braids and becoming up-dos. Everyone has been begging her to do their hair for the upcoming dinner, but she has turned most of them down. She offered to do my hair, and Phasma’s too, but Phasma merely sniffed and said that the only person to touch her hair would be herself or a ladies maid. Really she just doesn’t want to admit that Rose is much better at doing hair than she is. At least she is better than me; hair styling isn't something they teach at the Jakku Asylum.

Before I forget this month, here is a list of the things I have been learning.

i. Latin. Second Punic War. Hannibal and forces pitch camp at Lake Trasimenus and prepare an ambush on the Romans

ii. French. 25 pages of ‘The Three Musketeers’ and third conjugation, irregular verbs

iii. Geometry. Finished cylinders, now learning cones.

iv. English. Studying exposition. My style improves daily in clearness and brevity.

v. Physiology. Learning digestive system. Gall bladder today, pancreas tomorrow.

Yours beginning-to-be-educated,  
Rey Kenobi

October 18th

Dear Daddy-Long-Legs,

In Art today we were told to draw a portrait from memory, and I wanted to draw you, but I have no frame of reference. How old are you? Just old, or very old? Are you a) slightly bald b) perfectly bald or c) possessed of a full head of distinguished grey hair? I have quite thought out in my head how you look down to every detail but I cannot picture your hair no matter how hard I try. Would you like to know how you look? 

You are, obviously, a tall and spidery man, with surprising broad shoulders for a man of your age. You have big hands, wrinkled but not overly tan, you being an ‘indoors’ kind of man. You have a wide mouth, which does not smile often, and crinkly grey eyes which do. I can imagine all of this right up to the top of your forehead and then-  
Blank. 

I know your rules have forbidden communication from you to me but would you be ever so kind and have your secretary (Mr Hux?) telegraph me saying; Mr Ren is slightly bald, Mr Ren is perfectly bald, or Mr Ren is not at all bald. It would mean a great deal to me.

I have the largest bruise on my right shoulder from basketball on Friday when one of the upper classmen knocked me onto the ground. It is all yellow and achy now but I do not mind. Playing makes me feel alive.  
College gets better every day I am here. All the girls here are splendid, and we have ice cream twice a week at dinner. The teachers here are much nicer than they were at the high school I attended, where only Miss Kanata treated me as anything more than a charity pupil.

No one here knows that I am an orphan. I hope you will not think me deceitful Daddy, but I cannot bear the looks on peoples faces when they find out. I told Rose Tico that my parents died, and a kindly old gentleman was sending me to college- which happens to be true.  
Here I am just Rey Kenobi, one of the girls, and no one looks at me with disgust, or worse yet, with pity. I always hated the pious, do-gooders who would pretend to be friendly to me to feel good about themselves. They were somehow worse than the openly disdainful ones.

Phasma was complaining yesterday that people here don’t show her respect appropriate for a Solo. She said they treated her as if she were ordinary. Everyone here treats me as if I am ordinary, and I think it the most wonderful thing in the world!  
Your most ordinary charge,  
Rey Kenobi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait on the update it's been a busy couple of weeks. Soon I'll be on holidays and I'll be popping out chapters faster than you can read them! Next chapter we get to meet the mysterious Kylo Ren... I wonder who he would be? Any support is greatly appreciated, and comments make me write faster! Love you all x


End file.
